Juuni Taisen (Juni Taisen: Zodiac War)

Every 12 years, mercenaries who possess the highest caliber of brute strength, cunning wit, and deadly precision gather to participate in the Zodiac Tournament. Each warrior bears the name and attributes of one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. With their pride and lives on the line, they engage in vicious combat until only the victor remains.

The 12th Zodiac Tournament begins in a desolate city, devoid of any evidence of the half million people who recently lived there. To raise the stakes, each warrior ingests a poisonous gem, thus setting a time limit on the tournament—and on their life. With one wish for the victor up for grabs, the Zodiac Warriors start their cutthroat battle for survival.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Juuni Taisen

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Characters & Voice Actors

Usagi

Main

Okamoto, Nobuhiko
Japanese

Nezumi

Main

Horie, Shun
Japanese

Tora

Main

Igarashi, Hiromi
Japanese

Ushii

Main

Umehara, Yuuichirou
Japanese

Sharyuu

Main

Hayami, Saori
Japanese

Niwatori

Main

Sakura, Ayane
Japanese

Inounoshishi

Main

Hikasa, Youko
Japanese

Tatsumi Kyoudai Ani

Main

Eguchi, Takuya
Japanese

Tatsumi Kyoudai Otouto

Main

Toriumi, Kousuke
Japanese

Dotsuku

Main

Nishimura, Tomohiro
Japanese

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Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Oowada, Tomoyuki

Producer

Kamei, Hiroshi

Producer

Aijima, Gouta

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Rapture (ラプチャー)" by Panorama Panama Town (パノラマパナマタウン)

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Ending Theme

"Keshin no Kemono (化身の獣)" by Do As Infinity

Reviews

Dec 19, 2017

RebelPanda

Recommended

I'm sick and tired of seeing people treat Juuni Taisen like trash because the plot is predictable.

It might just be intentionally predictable!
I know, how blasphemous!
As if its intention was to besmirch the name of our beloved Fate and the tarnish the genre it birthed into existence!

Did it really take everyone 12 episodes to realize that the show reveals the order of every characters’ death by the end of the first episode?
Would it be so far-fetched to imagine that Juuni Taisen actually wanted to put an original spin on the battle royale genre?
Or does every battle royale show have to be like ...

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Dec 19, 2017

Stark700

Mixed Feelings

Every season nowadays, we get one of those “dark, edgy” shows that can make our stomach growl. From this year, we had plenty of those. Titles such as Kakegurui, Chaos;Child, and even Vatican Kiseki Chousakan tried to sell its ideas to viewers with mixed results. Then, there’s Juuni Taisen, a show that features a battle royale theme. Based on the signs of the Eastern Zodiac, it’ a character battle for the ultimate grand price of having a wish fulfilled. But honestly, Juuni Taisen is a show that betrayed expectations. It didn’t fulfill my wish of a show that is memorable. Instead, it delivered a half-assed ... TV anime that makes headlines for the wrong reasons.

Juuni Taisen is interesting to note for its creator, the brainchild behind the Monogatari novels. While that franchise takes on a more narrative approach, Juuni Taisen tried to do something different. It became a show that heavily focused on its characters, ones that I honestly found to have many problems by their standards. That’s another subject by itself though. For this anime to succeed, it had to really get viewers invested into the story and be something unique of itself. Unfortunately, the battle royale theme is hardly original. The popular Fate franchise already had a similar premise while other shows in recent years also took on such an approach. (ex. Btooom, Mirai Nikki) What Juun Taisen failed to really do is not bringing in characters that are worth watching for but instead kills them off like they are some failed experiment. To say the least, that’s just awful to realize.

Watching this anime will probably get you to realize what it wants you to like. The bloodthirsty action, tragic drama, and emotional storytelling is what people should really expect from a show like this. Unfortunately, it only capitalizes on a small percent of that. Its straightforward storytelling is very predictable as you’d expect from a battle royale theme show. Every time you see an episode filled with storytelling based on a certain character, almost always expect that character to die sooner or later. As for the storytelling itself, this show took a risk and it didn’t truly pay off. Most of the characters in this anime has some sort of background story, motivation, and apparently goal for themselves. However, it doesn’t really evoke any feelings in the end as it’s hard to get attached to them. With perhaps the exception of the Tiger, almost every episode made me feel less sensitive about the characters. I don’t feel much sympathy for them because there’s really no point to after realizing what their fate awaits them. It’s so predictable that you can almost guess exactly what may from scene to scene for some episodes. The worst offender is the Usagi (Rabbit) because this anime omits any sort of character development for him. He is literally portrayed as a psychotic abomination who tries to make “friends” and enjoys the thrill of killing. It doesn’t also help that the character lacks a personality and is there to fill the bloodthirsty action part of the show. By storytelling context, I do want to say that the show provides reasons for the battle royale itself and that there’s a larger end-goal than just making a wish come true.

If you came for a show with graphic content, then this may end up being somewhat of a crowd-pleaser. The body horror, bloodshed, and overall psychology lives up to certain expectations. So really, if you plan to watch Juuni Taisen, you won’t be disappointed for a show that offers its violence. I also have to add that through its battle royale theme, the show sometimes gets creative with how characters uses their approach to kill. While it’s far from being an intelligent anime with strategies and clever psychology, some characters are deceptively cunning. The anime makes it clear that there will be one victor so death is something that you’ll see often. The way these are carried out can occasionally be impressive despite the extreme predictably.

Adapted by studio Graphinica, I will admit that the overall visual quality gave me some favorable impressions. From the character introductions to the battle choreography, Juuni Taisen knows how to get viewers pumped up for some of its episodes. As dark and edgy as this show can be, it does live up to some expectations in regards to its technical content with graphic horror. Body parts are shredded, blood is spilled, and mentality is tested through facial character expressions. There isn’t much censorship either. Tragic background stories has a black and white stylish tone that expresses a sense of vulnerability. Most of the animation also remains fluid without questionable raw quality. The character designs are interesting to take notice ranging from Usagi’s man service to some of the sci-fi gimmicky outfits such as those wore by Tsumita siblings. The animal motifs and characteristics are also evident to represent the Chinese Zodiac.

When it comes to soundtrack delivery, there are several qualities that makes this barely watchable. First, the battle OST is far too generic. It just seems to be there and isn’t unique by any standards. Second, there are the character voices. Some of them really doesn’t make an impact while others are memorable just by their voice alone. The guiltiest example is Usagi, a character voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto. His voice from this show channels the craziest and ridiculous lines I’ve seen from this show. On the other hand, the theme songs gives a feeling of melancholy and grimmer mood. I mean, it is a very moody anime after all.

Should you really watch Juuni Taisen? As a light novel adaptation with 12 episodes, it’s about as predictable as it can get. Expectations were shattered in pieces once you realize what you’re in for. Beyond the predictably, the anime fails to get over most or if any of its character cast. Even when there are characters that you try to feel sympathy for, it ends up being wasted in the end. It’s a show that I tried to accept for what it is but ended up being a dumb action flick that ran dead on its shoes.

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Dec 19, 2017

dadnaya

Not Recommended

[Spoiler Warning]

Do you know what Juuni Taisen lacked? The music in comedy anime where someone does something stupid. Everything was so stupid here that it might've been better to just make it a comedy anime. And even with that my score would've been maybe 5 instead of 4

After watching all of the show, I want to say that this anime... Had potential. And a lot of it. But it went downhill really fast.

I'm going to talk about the pattern of the anime, which makes almost every episode the same, the poor "border story" and why the anime which is tagged only as "Action"- doesn't do ...

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Should I avoid watching the ED until after I've finished the series? Jax - Jan 22	4 replies	by StarlightShiba »» Jan 31, 7:01 AM
Poll: Juuni Taisen Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Dec 19, 2017	211 replies	by Stuntdrath »» Dec 27, 2023 5:04 PM
Poll: Juuni Taisen Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Nov 7, 2017	197 replies	by Bakunoaato »» Jul 28, 2023 7:28 AM
Poll: Juuni Taisen Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Oct 31, 2017	112 replies	by Bakunoaato »» Jul 28, 2023 6:41 AM
Poll: Juuni Taisen Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Oct 10, 2017	222 replies	by Bakunoaato »» Jul 28, 2023 5:48 AM

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